With a spirit similar to Stephen Sommers' Van Helsing and The Mummy, Oleg Stepchenko's Forbidden Empire is equal parts horror and adventure, with a macabre mystery interwoven throughout its intriguing narrative.
It's the 18th century, and an ambitious cartographer named Jonathan Green (Jason Flemyng) is traveling by horse-drawn carriage through the wilderness of Europe to properly map the borders of the world. His journey comes to a literal (and mud-splattered) halt when he comes under attack by ghostly wolves outside a small Ukrainian village run by Lord Dudley (Charles Dance). Jonathan soon learns this small town is cursed—the kind of place you might not leave if you stay overnight. The cause of the town's curse is the church, where Dudley's daughter lies in eternal, perhaps supernatural, slumber.
From this engrossing premise, Stepchenko offers ample amounts of scares delivered in stylish, gothic CGI. A truly transformative dinner table scene in which the guests take on frightening forms leaves an indelible, ghoulish mark. The narrative moves at a swift, energetic pace, the larger-than-life characters seemingly plucked straight out of a Hammer horror film to drink in Stepchenko's gorgeous gothic scenery.
If you like vintage horror mixed with a modern storytelling approach, then look no further than Stepchenko's Forbidden Empire for a fun and frightening fix.
------------
Starring Jason Flemyng (Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels) and Charles Dance (Game of Thrones), Forbidden Empire is now available to watch on VOD.
"An 18th century explorer sets out on an epic journey to map the forbidden uncharted lands of Transylvania only to discover its dark secrets and dangerous creatures hidden in a cursed, fantastical forest."
Raised on a steady diet of R.L. Stine’s Goosebumps books and Are You Afraid of the Dark?, Derek has been fascinated with fear since he first saw ForeverWare being used on an episode of Eerie, Indiana.
When he’s not writing about horror as the Senior News Reporter for Daily Dead, Derek can be found daydreaming about the Santa Carla Boardwalk from The Lost Boys or reading Stephen King and Brian Keene novels.
Daily Dead's Official Podcast! Daily Dead's Official Podcast!
